AQA A2 Ecosystems - Ecosystems on a global scale .. conservation in Cameroon

1. TROPICAL RAINFORESTS
Case Study on Cameroon
(KORUP PROJECT)

2. TROPICAL RAINFORESTS (OVERVIEW)
 TRF’s once covered 14% of world land area
 Now only covers 7% because:
 Rate of destruction/deforestation has increased by 90% since mid 80s
 threatened / destroyed by unsustainable or illegal logging
 forest fires
 clearance for:
 agriculture
 settlement
 mining
 14 million hectares destroyed annually
 15 million hectares degraded

3. CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL RAINFOREST (WHAT IS
IT)
 Korup Project is in South – West Cameroon
 Attempt to conserve an area of rainforest
 The rainforest has:
 poor soil
 High rainfall
 Therefore unsuitable for crops
 Terrain is difficult and inaccessible – little / no interest to loggers
 Forest left virtually untouched
 One of world oldest and diverse with large numbers of plant species
 Animal life is diverse and rare
 Forest home to 25% of Africa’s primate species
 Korup is Cameroon governments first and only national park since
1986.
 Helped and supported by organisations such as WWF and Overseas
Development Administration (ODA) of UK government.

4. CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL RAINFOREST (WHAT IS
IT) CONTINUED ...
 Main aims are:
 to preserve wildlife, the environment and its biodiversity
 to foster scientific research
 to enhance tourist development
 to educate local people to minimise their impact on rainforest

5. CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL RAINFOREST (KORUP
PROJECT)
 Establishing / delimiting national park was first step in conserving
rainforest. Including:
 building a fence around park
 creating nature trails
 building camp sites and guard posts
 Hunting controlled quickly – was biggest threat
 local people employed to guard park against poaching
 People from 6 villages resettled to achieve true national park status
 Second step – to develop a buffer zone around park where most
development would take place. This meant:
 new roads and bridges built
 schools / health centres set up
 resettlement programme begun

6. CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL RAINFOREST (KORUP
PROJECT) CONTINUED...
 Education is major part of project
 villagers taught how to grow own crops / raise livestock (hunting no longer
necessary)
 community farms / tree nurseries set up – replanting can begin
 workshops to teach people skills such as carpentry and masonry / how to
make handicrafts (soap)
 Third step to encourage tourism to earn foreign exchange (in
addition to employment / business opportunities)
 Project insists that local people must benefit from development /
tourism must be controlled

7. CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL RAINFOREST (KORUP
PROJECT) CONTINUED...
 Tourism
 only experience park on foot
 Korup has particular appeal for butterflies, birds and botanical groups
rather than large animals
 main centre in Mundemba [end of dusty, or muddy road (dependent on
weather)]
 park entrance 10km away
 facilities are poor
 one way in / out of park

8. KORUP ... SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
SUCCESSES
 Wildlife protected in a way that other rainforests have not yet
achieved
 Attracted funding from international agencies such as World Bank
as well as NGOs from Britain, USA and Germany.
 Discovered new plant Ancistrocladus korupensis – may be useful in
the fight against HIV.
 if proven useful, income for local farmers provided + world health

9. KORUP ... SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
FAILURES
 Establishing the trust and cooperation from locals
 6 out of 27 villages had to be relocated to buffer zones as they were
inside the marked national park zone.
 resentment and unhappiness about the plans
 although some have accepted relocation, others still resent
 Hunting part of tradition and income but now stopped
 carrying firearm without permit is illegal / hunting discouraged
 park enclosed by fence & guards at entry
 Poverty remains a problem
 development programme still in early stages
 for some, tradition taken away for something insignificant

10. WHY IS THE KORUP PROJECT OF INTERNATIONAL
IMPORTANCE? [NATIONAL/GLOBAL CONTEXT]
 Western Romance Ideal
 See it as a lost paradise (emotional attachment / luxurious)
 Highly sensitive image of the area
 Cameroon govt. agreed – sign of development (aid given to govt.)
 Medicines
 Ancistrocladus Korupensis
 Found only in Korup
 Cure for HIV may be possible
 Virgin Rainforest
 Protect rainforest to halt climate change •60% of Cameroon’s
 Take in CO₂ through photosynthesis rainforest gone
•7% globally

11. HOW IS THE TRF IN THE KORUP PROJECT VALUED BY
THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE?
 1400 people (7 villages) within Korup Project / 30000 people (37
villages) utilise forest
 Modern population increase is a pressure
 Forest used for:
 Hunting / fishing / farming / gathering NTFP [(non – timber forest product)
fruit]
 Used for income (survival)
 161 euros give or take 53 annually
 Subsistence farming mainly
 In Korup Project 9% of weekly timetable is spent in the
conservation zone

12. THE KORUP “MASTERPLAN”
 4 main aims (look at slide 4)
 15 million euros spent on Korup Project between 1988 and 2000
 Korup Project assumed that villagers would accept plans
 Attempted to ‘win’ participation:
 Used incentives – rewards and sanction (not many rewards)
 Persuade them with health facilities and education
 Chief’s told if they volunteered - would receive compensation / if didn’t
then armed forces will drive them out
 Financial cost to villager? 161 euros annually lost
 The compensations?
 Education (training in skills)
 Better infrastructure
 More health services

13. HOW DOES PARTICIPATORY CONSERVATION SUCCEED
WHERE ‘ TOP-DOWN’ APPROACHES HAVE FAILED? [ECO-GUARDS]
 Eco-guards introduced in June 2007 by WWF Coastal Forests
Programme
 Eco-guard strength of 23 (from all 7 villages) to cover 126,000
hectares
 Trained to use:
 Mobile application cybertracker
 Land navigation with GPS / maps
 GPS navigation with compass
 Use of handheld computer
 Identification of large mammals
 Anti-poaching patrols 21 days a month
 3 operational sectors: North West / North East / Southern sectors
 Active researchers in mammal numbers

14. HOW DOES PARTICIPATORY CONSERVATION SUCCEED
WHERE ‘ TOP-DOWN’ APPROACHES HAVE FAILED? [ECO-TOURISM]
 Locals are able to provide hospitality to tourists who have come to
see the rainforest
 They are able to sell their goods that they have made
 They can give guided tours to tourists
 Give tourists a taste of Korup culture through dance and music to
show off their culture.

15. WHY IS PARTICIPATORY CONSERVATION BETTER THAN
‘ TOP-DOWN’?
 Locals interviewed about lifestyle (doesn’t happen in top-down)
 Locals incorporated in management plan
 Allows education / training programmes to be introduced
 Local knowledge used
2 way education
 Locals more happy (have more say)
 Local NGOs have small visions for local area
 Protect resource base
 Improvement of quality of life

16. THE 4 AIMS – STRATEGIES & OBSTACLES (WILDLIFE)
 Strategies
 Creation of national park status
 Fire arms licenses
 Local eco-guards (trained and employed)
 Obstacles
 Difficult to enforce hunting restrictions in such a remote place
 Hunting is part of local people’s TRADITIONAL LIFESTLYE
 Hunting is main source of income (bush meat)
 Local people are resentful

17. THE 4 AIMS – STRATEGIES & OBSTACLES (SCIENCE)
 Strategies
 Ancistrocladus Korupensis – plant used in medical battle against
HIV
 Scientific research carried out
 Botanical surveys
 Ethno botanical studies (local uses of plants)
 Obstacles
 Low impact

18. THE 4 AIMS – STRATEGIES & OBSTACLES ([ECO] TOURISM)
 Strategies
 Nature trails (on foot only)
 Employs local people
 Attracts foreign currency
 Obstacles
 Access – nearest village 10km away from entrance
 Mud track – dependent on weather (erosion)
 Only one entry point to park
 Poor facilities for tourists in Mundemba

19. THE 4 AIMS – STRATEGIES & OBSTACLES (LIMITING LOCAL
ACTIVITIES)
 Strategies
 Education for locals
 Training in agriculture (livestock / crops)
 Obstacles
 Conflicts with traditional roaming lifestyle